


Camp

by Violet_CLM



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Forevver Alone, Gen, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-03
Updated: 2011-03-03
Packaged: 2017-10-16 01:55:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/167170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Violet_CLM/pseuds/Violet_CLM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From a <a href="http://tokyocentricity.webs.com/generators/homosuck.htm">Homestuck Generator</a>:</p><p>Mom / Eridan Ampora<br/>Camp</p>
            </blockquote>





	Camp

Eridan is used to rejection. Long ago he stopped keeping track of how many trolls had rejected his advances in one quadrant or another, to the point that on occasion he would accidentally proposition the same troll twice and they would have to remind him of that fact. Often, though he tries not to dwell on it, harshly. Occasionally violently. And even in his longest lasting relationships, one pale, one black, he always found himself wanting more, and somehow that led to both of their destructions. Ultimately, in the brief timespan between the moment that he saw Kan's chainsaw begin to whirl a second time and the moment it split him in two, he almost welcomed death, since at the very least it would spare him the risk of being rejected by Jack Noir.

But he hadn't expected the dream bubbles.

Now Eridan wanders the collective unconsciousness that death apparently is. He has cleaned the blood from his torso, because it was inelegant, and has even stolen a new cape from one of his own dreams. He will never understand why so many trolls think fashion is stupid. Of the landdwellers, only Kan ever seemed to understand the magnificence it gives you, but once it became clear that he was interested in doing more than just drafting clothes with her, she rebuffed him. But that was in life, and Eridan is done with life. Unfortunately, life seems equally done with him.

Eridan wanders, searching for dreams to visit. He finds Sollux slumbering in his stupid communal hive, Tavros trying to escape from the horrors of Vriska's quest cocoon through the sweet infinity of sleep, even Karkat, though he cannot determine the origin of that particular dream. All dreams, past, present, and future, are open to him, and yet all are closed to him, the moment their dreamers notice him. Because nobody wants him there. He comes across Terezi reliving the moment she was blinded, but once she realizes it's only a memory, she tells him to leave because she doesn't need more aggravation right now. One of the hardest moments of her life, and still she rejects a bit of companionship to help her through her sudden loss of sight, just because it's him. Because nobody wants Eridan, even when he's dead.

So he goes farther away, beyond the dreams of his immediate friends. Beyond, at last, the dreams of the entire troll species. He finds an alternate space within the dream world that he can determine must belong to the pink wrigglers called humans, picks a bubble, and makes his entrance. He doesn't expect much anymore. Perhaps he will get a little farther with someone who doesn't know him, but still he fully expects to be kicked out of the bubble as soon as the dreamer gets a sense of his personality. The Prince of Hope isn't very hopeful anymore.

He finds himself outside, at night, in the rain. Behind him is the largest hive he's ever seen, entirely white, quite unlike the angular gray monstrosities of the landdwellers he knows from Alternia. Before him are two humans, dressed in black, one tall and one short, smaller even than the wrigglers he and his teammates had been contacting back in the veil. They seem to be observing a stone box. Why come all the way out here and stand in the rain where wild animals could eat them? Humans are so stupid.

As he watches, the taller human turns and sees him. She is not gaudily dressed, but every inch of her clothing is perfect and in just the right place to command respect. He is amazed. She approaches him, and her air of disdain does not put him off because he is so fuckin used to it by now.

"A little horned boy watching a mother's love for her daughter," she says, with a voice that could cut through glass. "Why are you here? Are you the demon that killed my poor little girl's cat?"

"hey no im not into that kinda thin anymore ok" says Eridan. "killins not my style right now too many angry people too many feelins"

"Then what are you doing on my private property?" she asks. "Poor Rose is evidently too distraught to notice you, but I do not take kindly to your invasion of a funeral service."

"roz" he says, puzzled. "are you tellin me that wweepin wwriggler ovver there is the fuckin roz kid"

Before he can say another word he has been seized by the collar and hoisted bodily upwards. If he possessed the abysmal anatomy of a landdweller he might be struggling to breathe right now. "You will watch your mouth about my dearest daughter in her time of loss," says the tall human who is evidently Rose's mo...ther? Mom? Eridan is not very good with those stupid human terms for their abhorrent lusus.

"look lady i dont givve a flyin glub about her stupid time a loss okay" he says. "this isnt the real funeral either yknoww its just a memory a it youre havving in a dream"

The mom looks confused for a moment, and their surroundings shift to what Eridan surmises is the inside of the big white hive. The tiny version of Rose is walking grimly around the house, packing strange things into a suitcase, and the mom, still holding Eridan aloft, is watching her.

"A dream..." she says, slowly. "Yes, you're right. These are memories. The funeral was weeks ago. Rose continued to be hopelessly inconsolate, and after a time, I arranged for her to be sent to a camp for young women of her age. She is gone now -- this was today -- and I took to the wine and now I am sleeping." Certainty returns to her features. "But I ask again, what are you doing here, little demon?"

"i dont know what a fuckin demon is but im not one a them" says Eridan. "an if shes feeling dowwn you should probably just get her a pony or somethin chicks dig horses" He smiles for a moment at the thought of happier times and the horses that littered Fef's palace underseas and how much she always loved his lusus -- more than she ever loved him, that's for sure -- when she visited him.

"A pony..." The mom seems to consider it. "That is not a bad idea, young demon, though she may still be too young for such a responsibility. Perhaps I will acquire for her an animal of that sort when she is older, to show her how proud I am of her ascent into young adulthood."

"yeah great you go fuckin do that" says Eridan, who is beginning to doubt he will ever be put back down. Perhaps the stupid mom creature has simply forgotten that she is still holding him in the air. "so wwhats this conchsuck nonsense about roz being hopeless anyhoww she wwas alwways purposeful as anythin wwhen she got older"

"Older?" Puzzle pieces are rapidly sorting themselves into place in the mom's mind, and Eridan wonders just how much more she knows than she is letting on in this dream bubble. "You are a friend of Rose's from some time in the future, then?"

"wwell i wwouldnt say friends i guess she kinda hates my guts noww but evveryone does really so im not too put out about it and shes kinda a looker for a human i mean"

The scene shifts again. The young Rose is sitting stiffly upright in an enormous soft thing -- he thinks the humans call them "beds" -- looking at photos of one of those little hunter animals Nep likes so much. The mom is watching her silently, and Eridan is standing beside her, no longer held up by his collar.

"You're saying..." the mom's voice is faltering. "...you're saying she gets better, then? She's been depressed ever since her cat died. She does nothing but look at photos of him and write MEOW, over and over again, in one of her journals. She's given up all hope for the future and I don't know how to get through to her anymore. I sent her to camp in hope she might find a new interest there to keep her going."

Eridan isn't too interested in all this flighty broad stuff about cats and journals, but there is one word he picks up on. "hey i am the fuckin prince of hope" he says, "an long as im stuck in this stupid dream bubble wworld i might as wwell make myself useful"

Not waiting for the mom to reply, Eridan leaves the dream bubble and begins searching for one of Roz's, from when she is at this "camp" thing the mom mentioned. If she wants Roz to develop some sort of new interest, there is no one better qualified than himself to give her one that should carry her right on past this stupid cat thing. So much grief over a little thing like an animal dying is fuckin ridiculous, anyway. The Roz he knows would never make such a big deal out of nothing.

When he finds the bubble, he is ready. The wand that Kan made him is glowing brightly, his cape has been scienced up to billow without any wind, and his hair has never looked more dramatic. It stands up straight like a sort of tall, pointy hat. He has even come up with an impressive new name to strike wonder into the think pan of the stupidest human. He strides in, and the young version of Roz breaks out of her apathetic stupor to stare at him in bewilderment.

"tremble you little mortal wwriggler" he says, lifting the glowing wand aloft. "the almighty wwizard zazzerpan demands some fuckin respect around here"


End file.
